Welcome back to another edition of the Weekly Roundup, where we talk about a BC spring sports season that’s quickly nearing postseason play. The likes of men’s and women’s tennis spent the past week competing in conference tournaments, while lacrosse capped off the regular season ahead of the start of the ACC Tournament on Wednesday. Check out all that and more below.
Lacrosse Completes Another 17-0 Regular Season
The weekend brought déjà vu of the best kind for the Eagles, who handily beat Louisville, 19-6, on Senior Day to complete their second straight 17-0 regular season and secure the top seed in the ACC Tournament—which will be held at Alumni Stadium this week. BC led, 9-4, at halftime before asserting its dominance with 10 straight goals to begin the second half. Ten different Eagles found the back of the net in the win, including senior defenders Christina Walsh and Elizabeth Miller, while goaltender Lauren Daly recorded seven saves as part of a strong defensive effort.
Baseball Wins Beanpot Consolation, Swept at No. 12 North Carolina
The week began well for the Eagles, who won the Beanpot Consolation Game against Northeastern at Fenway Park on Wednesday. BC trailed, 1-0, heading into the fourth inning before Cody Morissette knotted the score with an RBI groundout to third base. Gian Martellini followed that by smoking an RBI double into right to score the go-ahead run. Morissette would record two more RBIs, thanks to a sacrifice fly and an error from Huskies catcher John Mazza, and the Eagles’ bullpen buckled down when it mattered most. The trio of Will Hesslink, Thomas Lane, and Travis Lane combined to throw hitless eighth and ninth innings, and BC finished the tournament on a high note, defeating the Huskies, 5-3.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, their pitching staff wasn’t quite as effective over the weekend, though, when BC traveled to Chapel Hill to take on No. 12 North Carolina. Despite being competitive for most of the weekend, the Eagles couldn’t find a way to top the Tar Heels, losing twice in 11 innings before being blown out to finish the series on Easter Sunday.
On Saturday, in the first game of a doubleheader, BC grabbed a 7-6 lead in the ninth inning, thanks to Jack Cunningham’s three-run big fly, but couldn’t hold the lead. Matt Gill allowed the tying run on a sacrifice fly in the bottom half of the frame, and a bizarre play on a grounder off the bat of the Tar Heels’ Michael Busch brought the winning run home in the bottom of the 11th inning. The second game of the day also saw the Eagles erase a UNC lead in the ninth inning. This time, Martellini’s sac fly in the final frame scored Frelick and also brought BC all the way back from a 7-1 deficit, but once again the Tar Heels found 11th inning magic. Aaron Sabato cracked a double into deep center field, bringing in the winning run and dooming the Eagles to another defeat.
In the final game of the series, though, UNC didn’t need 11 innings to record a victory. The Tar Heels weren’t fazed by BC’s six-run explosion in the third frame, responding by getting an astonishing 12 players to cross home plate in the sixth. The offensive eruption turned a 6-4 Eagles lead into a 10-run BC deficit, and the Eagles wouldn’t recover, losing the weekend finale, 16-8. For a more detailed recap of the series, click here.
Softball’s Bats Come Alive Late Against Massachusetts, Swept By No. 1 FSU
Softball also saw its week get off to a good start, as BC used a four-run eighth inning to defeat in-state rival Massachusetts, 6-2. The pitching trio of Susannah Anderson, Camryn Dolby, and Kendra Friedt combined to allow just six hits—and none over the final two innings—giving the Eagles enough time to pull away late. Kennedy Labshere provided the spark, lacing a single into center field for the go-ahead run in the eighth, before Lexi DiEmmanuele drove in two runs with a grounder to second base and completed the rally by scoring on a fielder’s choice. Friedt would finish off the Minutemen with a scoreless ninth inning.
But BC’s offense was non-existent when it visited No. 1 FSU over the weekend. In fact, the Eagles failed to score a single run during the three-game set, one in which they were swept by the Seminoles. On Friday, it was FSU’s Meghan King who shut down BC, allowing just four hits and striking out 13 batters. Meanwhile, the Seminoles did enough offensively, as Sydney Sherrill got the bats going with a solo home run in the first inning. FSU also scored in the second, fourth, and sixth innings, and the Eagles never threatened, getting more than one runner on base in just one inning, the fourth frame. King whiffed the final six batters she faced, helping the Seminoles to a 5-0 series-opening win.
On Saturday and Sunday, the story was much the same. In the middle game of the series, FSU jumped on BC starter Anderson for four runs in the first inning and never looked back. Makinzy Herzog, the Seminoles’ starter, gave up just three hits in six innings, while FSU tacked on three more runs in the fifth inning to record a 7-0 win. In the series finale, the Seminoles’ offense was once again clicking on all cylinders from the get-go, as FSU scored twice in both the first and second innings to grab a 4-0 lead. Britney Richardson was thrown out at the plate in the sixth inning for the Eagles, and BC couldn’t muster anything in the final frame, leaving Tallahassee having been shut out in three consecutive games.
Women’s Tennis Beats Louisville, Then Loses to Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament
The Eagles traveled down to Cary, N.C., for the ACC Tournament and beat Louisville, 4-1, in the first round to record their 16th victory of the season—the program’s highest win total in the past two decades—before losing to No. 22 Wake Forest, 4-2, the next day. Against the Cardinals, Jackie Urbinati and Kylie Wilcox came up clutch, forcing a tiebreaker before prevailing, 9-7, to start BC off on the right foot. Yufei Long, Laura Lopez, and Natasha Irani all proceeded to notch singles wins and seal the victory, propelling the Eagles into the second round.
Yet BC couldn’t repeat the feat the next day against the Demon Deacons. Like they did in their first round matchup against Louisville, Urbinati and Wilcox recorded a doubles victory, but the Eagles lost on the other two doubles courts, ceding the first point of the match to Wake Forest. Irani and Lopez both emerged victorious in singles matches, but Urbinati lost the decisive match to the Demon Deacons’ Eliza Omirou, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, and the Eagles exited the conference tournament with their NCAA Tournament fate still up in the air.
Men’s Tennis’ Season Ends With ACC Tournament Loss to Clemson
BC couldn’t quite complete the upset in the first round of the conference tournament, losing, 4-2, to the 12th-seeded Tigers. After the Eagles dropped the doubles point, Max Mendelsohn and Derek Austin both won on their respective singles courts to give BC a brief 2-1 advantage. From there, though, it was all Clemson. Three Tigers freshmen—Teodor Giusca, Mike Agee, and Jacob Jahn—won their singles matches to give Clemson an insurmountable 4-2 lead and ensure that the Eagles finished the season winless in league play.
Moment of the Week: Sal Frelick’s web gem
Any play that winds up on SportsCenter’s Top 10 segment—as the No. 4 play nonetheless—has to be the moment of the week. Unfortunately for BC, it didn’t wind up mattering much. The Eagles lost their series finale against No. 12 UNC, 16-8.
What’s Next?
Baseball faces Massachusetts Lowell on Tuesday at home, hits the road to play Bryant on Wednesday, and then hosts Duke for another ACC weekend series beginning on Friday.
Softball has a pair of home games against Holy Cross and Central Connecticut State before staying in Chestnut Hill to play Virginia Tech over the weekend.
Lacrosse begins ACC Tournament play against bottom-seeded Louisville on Wednesday. If the Eagles win, semifinals are scheduled for Friday, and the final is set for Sunday.
Featured Image by Bradley Smart / Heights Editor
